Pricing 'Expensive' Coins To Purchase?

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Author	Replies: 6 / Views: 1,661
nickelsearcher Moderator United States 15388 Posts	Posted 04/07/2010 8:22 pm Fair warning ..... this will be a lengthy post ... but an important topic us to consider and debate. I am in a serious quandary about how to arrive at a fair 'retail' price for the admittedly 'expensive' coins I am seeking to acquire. Lots of factors come into play ...... hopefully this post will help to educate me and others on the topic ..... This is sort of a continuation of my recent post inquiring about CDN (dealer) prices ..... you can read that here: https://goccf.com/t/61608 In that previous thread CoinHunter53652 did some legwork to show the differences in price guides for various coins we might someday hope to own. As a result of that thread ..... I purchased the 4/02/10 issue of the CDN 'greysheet' ..... and have applied my various pricing guide resources to some real coins that I actually own (drawn from my growing collection of Classic US Silver Commemorative) ..... and this exercise has raised a lot of questions that I am hopeful some of you can shed some light on ..... I have access to the current PCGS Price Guides (updated 4/2/10), Numismedia (updated 4/2/10), my new CDN greysheet (dated 4/2/10) and the 2010 RedBook. Sooo .... For coins graded through MS65 .. all four of my pricing guides offer some guidance on the coins I own .... with an admittedly wide range .... for example: 1925-S California Half - PCGS MS65 PCGS $880 Numismedia $930 CND 'Ask' $800 RedBook $1150 1925 Vancouver Half - PCGS MS65 PCGS $1150 Numismedia $1190 CND 'Ask' $1050 RedBook $1200 1927 Vermont Half - PCGS MS65 PCGS $800 Numismedia $880 CND 'Ask' $760 RedBook $975 For coins graded MS66 the RedBook drops out .... no info ... 1936 Elgin Half - PCGS MS66 PCGS $590 Numismedia $594 CND 'Ask' $ 490 1937-D Texas Half - PCGS MS66 PCGS $350 Numismedia $450 CND 'Ask' $320 For coins graded above MS66 the CND greysheet drops out .... no info ... 1936-S Oregon Trail Half - PCGS MS67 PCGS $975 Numismedia $1030 1937 York Half - PCGS MS67 PCGS $650 Numismedia $680 Sooooo ... with those examples at hand ...... what is a 'fair' retail price to pay for a coin in hand? What price guide do we rely upon when making these decisions .... considering that in many cases above the range between high and low price is enough to purchase complete sets of other coins! A few other considerations to throw into the mix here ... 1. I absolutely 'cherrypick' my coins from dealer stock and insist upon clean, problem free, well struck, no-toned commemorative that appeal to my eye. Does this 'add' any value to the prices? 2. My growing commemorative collection is all slabbed by PCGS. Do the prices above (except of course the PCGS prices) reflect certified coins ... or are they raw coin prices? In other words .... does the Numismedia and CND prices reflect raw coins with 'subjective' grading? 3. Does any TPG matter over another relative to retail price? 4. Do dealers really sell at CND 'Ask' ... and if not .... what is that price listed for? Anyways ... long post here .... I'll close with this ... I would appreciate any and all input into how you experts figure out a fair retail price for the expensive coins in your collections. I suppose the same logic applies to all coins .... I just don't fret as much about a $12 coin as I do a $1000 coin. Thanks for any and all input! David Take a look at my other hobby ... http://www.jk-dk.art Report this Post to the Staff

wheatguy Pillar of the Community United States 1534 Posts	Posted 04/07/2010 8:56 pm Yes, most dealers are able to sell at CDN Ask, and I have gotten many coins for below Greysheet Bid. Keep in mind, the Greysheet is the most widely respected and accurate price guide in general. Pay what you can for problem free pieces like you mentioned. That definitely increases price, although toned coins command more money, in general. Do not rely heavily on price guides, you can probably snag most Commemoratives for cheaper than Greysheet Ask or sometimes even bid. TPG's are very important, and PCGS will always command a greater premium on their coins. I am not saying they are stricter, but more respected and coins in PCGS slabs always do better than in their counterpart slabs, mainly NGC and ANACS. Report this Post to the Staff
Nicholas Valued Member United States 56 Posts	Posted 04/07/2010 10:34 pm In my experience, junky goods command a high price if the item is in demand. That doesn't mean the choice coins would be for sale at a premium. However if I had two Oregon Trail Half Comms, I'd definitely have the nicer of the two priced at least slightly higher to encourage the sale of the uglier coin first. Between the two, a buyer will always want the better looking coin. However, when the better looking coin is gone and the ugly one is the only option, it will sell easily. Report this Post to the Staff
Prethen Pillar of the Community United States 3233 Posts	Posted 04/08/2010 09:11 am Just use those price guides as just that...guides. You'll have to actually look at the coins that are for sale and decide if the price on it makes it of value to you. Actually, prices overall seem to have softened a bit and I'm seeing some high priced coins going basically for (CDS) Sheet bid or less. I don't recall a time in recent years when it seems to be such a strong Buyer's market. Report this Post to the Staff
BadThad Bedrock of the Community United States 19930 Posts	Posted 04/08/2010 09:32 am Quote: Just use those price guides as just that...guides. You'll have to actually look at the coins that are for sale and decide if the price on it makes it of value to you. Actually, prices overall seem to have softened a bit and I'm seeing some high priced coins going basically for (CDS) Sheet bid or less. I don't recall a time in recent years when it seems to be such a strong Buyer's market. Indeed! Also, I don't care what a slab says, people are buying the coin. If a coin is not well-struck or has other minor blemishes, even if the TGP gives it, for example, MS-65, it will sell for less than the price guides. Lincoln Cent Lover! VERDI-CARE™ INVENTOR https://verdi.care/ Report this Post to the Staff
3stooges Pillar of the Community United States 511 Posts	Posted 04/14/2010 09:45 am Check Heritage's web site, Teletrade and ebay to get an idea of what people are actually paying for specific coins. Report this Post to the Staff
afcop13 Pillar of the Community United States 1409 Posts	Posted 04/14/2010 09:57 am My only comment here is one that has been mentioned - they are guides, and should be used as such. They give you a price range, but as we all know, if two people want the same coin, the price goes up. If no one wants it, it goes down. I surf the net alot for auctions, and try to use Greysheet as well, but its just a guide. Right now, people are paying well over "ask" for 1919D and S Standing Liberty quarters in F or better condition, while other years that are supposedly harder "gets" are selling for less than CDN or PCGS listed values. Slabbed versions from NGC or PCGS always seem to have a premium attached to them in the auctions I see. Report this Post to the Staff
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